Archives - History: Page 17
Author: paul carson (Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:37 am)
Title: Amelia Earhart
On July 2, 1937 the Coast Guard headquarters was advised that Amelia Earhart was believed to have gotten lost in the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern daylight time.
A message from the cutter Itasca, stationed in the vicinity of the island in the mid-Pacific, said:
“Earhart unreported at Howland at 7 p.m. believe to have gone down shortly after 5 p.m. Am we are searching probable area and will continue.”
Admiral William D. Leahy, chief of naval operations, instructed the commandant of the naval station at Honolulu to render whatever aid be deemed practicable in the search for Miss Earhart.
A navy flying boat left from Honolulu for Howland Island, 1,900 miles distant, to join the cutter Itasca in hunting for Miss Earhart. Two of Los Angeles radio amateurs were said to have picked up weak signals on the frequency assigned to the Earhart radio.
Coast Guard headquarters here received information that Miss Earhart probably overshot tiny Howland Island because she was blinded by the glare of an ascending sun. the message from the Coast Guard cutter Itasca said it was believed Miss Earhart passed northwest of Howland Island about 3:20 p.m., or about 8 a.m., Howland Island time. The Itasca reported that heavy smoke was bellowing from its funnels at the time, to serve as a signal for the flyer. The cutter’s skipper expressed belief the Earhart plane had descended into the sea within 100 miles of Howland.
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